Bassassin

Modern reissue of a 1965 Eko "Rok" bass. Jon.

It's probably been "Halled" away by now... Jon.

I don't think he's deliberately trying to flog a fake. He doesn't buy or sell other musical gear, and like I said, the Letraset headstock decal wasn't applied anytime this millenium.. Thebrig - did you tell him it's being discussed on a bass forum, & we know what it actually is? J.

[quote name='thebrig' timestamp='1427911993' post='2735838'] If people are reporting it, why is it still on there? [/quote] Ebay don't give a sh!t. Unless some fatarse corporation's doing the complaining. J.

I'd vote for the Ibanez too, but that's because I've previously owned two SRs and they're brilliant - versatile, well-balanced, lightweight. I would play before you buy, whatever you choose - in the case of the Ibbys, the necks are very thin & a lot of people don't get on with them. Jon.

Italian copies like this are a lot rarer than MIJ but (currently) a lot less collectable - a surprising amount of them get punted as MIJ, either because sellers don't know what they've got, or they appreciate there's more money in MIJ. That said, I have a pre '75 Ibanez P copy, I doubt I'd get £300+ for it. I still think it's a dumb buyer issue, as far as this one's concerned. For the half-dozen or so that might be interested, a Melody 5000 P copy, different tuners & body wood (or possibly stain), but otherwise the same as this one - neck build, truss adjuster, neckplate, and that odd offset scratchplate screw. Same slabby body & not-quite fitting scratchplate too: [url="http://www.fetishguitars.com/castelfidardo-recanati/melody/melody-solidbodies/"]http://www.fetishgui...dy-solidbodies/[/url] (scroll down a bit) J.

[quote name='warwickhunt' timestamp='1427817534' post='2734616'] I thought that you might be able to nail it Jon. Surely anyone paying £330+ will have the savvy to know it isn't a Fender... or is a Melody worth £330+ [/quote] It's actually a nice, fairly unusual copy, probably worth about £150ish, with its proper headstock logo - although in fairness I have seen unbranded ones. Quite hard to tell from some70s MIJ copies, but these tuners, 3-piece neck, wheel-type truss adjuster & Gibson-type nut all turn up on the Italian-made ones. The seller doesn't necessarily know it's a fake (that's not an Ebay-era decal, after all!) but it is surprising that punters still fall for it. J.

Been going to loud gigs since I was 15, played in loud bands since I was 17, unfortunately it goes with the territory. I have (and have had for as long as I can remember) a noticeable loss of HF sensitivity in my right ear, meaning I always favour my left. I have constant low-level tinnitus which I'm so used to I have to focus on it to notice it - I also can't remember not having this. I can often find it hard to distinguish conversational speech if there's significant (not necessarily loud) background noise - I've always thought that's probably one of the reasons I'm fairly socially inept. I will need to wait until I have a silent environment before I can attempt the test in the first post, but it's only going to tell me what I already know - rock 'n' roll has f***ed my ears, and very probably my entire life. Jon.

[quote name='Meddle' timestamp='1427752592' post='2733972'] Apropos nothing in particular, my buddies and I were all going to print off fake 'missing cat' posters and go into an especially dirty Korean restaurant in town to ask for them to be displayed in the window. [/quote] [Clarkson] Missing dog, surely? [/Clarkson] J.

It's an Italian-made Melody, 1970s. Jon.

Is that a dead cat? Jon.

I wouldn't mess around too much - cardboard's a perfectly suitable material, just cut it to shape using the heel-end as a template. Jon.

Here hands, there hands, every bleedin' where hands. J.

[quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1427456902' post='2730569'] Good job for my bank balance that it's not 5+5. [/quote] Good job for mine that the top neck's unlined. I already have one fretted/fretless twin-neck that's impossible to play for more than 3 minutes standing up! However - small, offset body, headless, through-necks (with the lined fretless top neck angled a couple of degrees back) passive J pickups... Wonder if they do a twin-neck Streamline? J.

[quote name='simon1964' timestamp='1427403768' post='2730084'] Like this one?! My main gigging bass for the last 6 months. Looks, plays, and sounds fantastic [url="https://flic.kr/p/qRT4Hs"][/url] [/quote] The very one. Checked binding would've pushed me over the edge... J.

[quote name='Twincam' timestamp='1427396990' post='2729967'] Why make the body so big?.It looks like you could slim the body to an average width, controls would have to be laid out different, but it would look nicer and be lighter. [/quote] Agree. I think it would be perfectly possible to build a double-neck that would be physically just a bit bigger & heavier than a standard P or J. Jon.

[quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1427382335' post='2729691'] You'd feel pretty silly if that meant that you couldn't travel for any longer than an hour and you needed to get from Birmingham to Edinburgh. [/quote] Not if you're Jeremy Clarkson! ...sorry, wrong thread. J.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1427359509' post='2729225'] I don't think I've ever sat in front of the TV noodling. In the days when I still owned a TV if I was watching it, I was watching it and not doing anything else. If I wasn't watching it, the TV was either off or I was in another room doing something more constructive like practicing the bass or guitar standing up. ;-) [/quote] Fair enough. Probably calls for a poll ("do you [i]never[/i] play sitting down?") but frankly don't care, can't be arsed... Anyway - Daisy Rock, undoubtedly targeted at a young girly market - but I've been GASing for a shortscale for ages, and their Stardust Elite bass is unqualified top of my list. Say what you want.... J.

It's entirely true my brand antipathy is entirely as a result of Hall and his behaviour. A Rick was my dream bass from my teens (thanks to Lemmy, Geddy, Foxton, Squire etc) and I'm sure if the company had a human, reasonable CEO, I'd own one. As it stands, I'd love an early 70s 4001, with all the vintage bling - checked binding, explodey Grovers, full-width inlays - and preferably in naturally-darkened Fireglo. I wouldn't touch Hall-era ("RIC") stuff, simply because it drips with the man's (probably metaphorical) spittle - although that curent walnut/maple board LE 4003 is [i]gorgeous[/i]... If they'd put checked binding on that, I'd worry for my principles. As it is, I'm very happy with my triumvirate of pretend ones.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1427160500' post='2726672'] Who apart from Robert Fripp plays sitting down? [/quote] I'd guess everyone, sitting around of an evening noodling in front of the TV. I'd get told off if I stood up... J.

Hard to put a figure on it - the mahogany one sold for £127, there was a 'burst finish one on Gumtree for £160, and this one's up for £120. I suppose that would make £110-£150 a fair-ish ballpark, assuming Gumtree prices to be loaded by about £10 haggle-padding... Looks like the 'burst finish ones are ply: So the mahogany looks like better VFM to me. Interesting but irrelevant - mine has the finish worn through at exactly the same place, as did the mahogany one on Ebay. Maybe at some point in history these basses were particularly prized by a sub-species of bassist with highly abrasive abdominal armour. J.

John Hall's a lovely man. I have it on good authority that he's personally involved in the QC process of new Rick (sorry John, "RIC") 4003s, and devotes a full 10 minutes to diligently licking the fretboard of each bass before it's transported, dripping, to the packing department. That oaf Sterling Testicle would never show this sort of commitment. Too busy watching his slaves count his money, in the lower dungeon of his marshmallow castle. Jon.

[quote name='phil.c60' timestamp='1427289586' post='2728311'] As is "bored of" instead of bored by or bored with. That and "seckertary". And all sorts of other things too. I'm off to calm down now. [/quote] I'm a bit concerned about all this stuff I keep hearing about "terrists". They sound like awful people, and the fact I now live in a terraced house means I'm worried I'll either be blown up or detained by security services. And what's all this about a "generalection" that's meant to be happening? I blame the terrists. J.

[quote name='leschirons' timestamp='1427283472' post='2728198'] I don't like "Bad" meaning good [/quote] Quite. When Michael Jackson released an album with that title I found it very, very hard to disagree with him, dismal literalist that I am. J.

I'm groovy about groovy. However, this is an old one, but getting more common: [b]"nuculer"[/b]. Did anyone, anywhere, say this before it was "popularised" by the dubiuously-elected, warmongering, alcoholic, functionally-retarded George Dubya Bush? And why would [i]anyone[/i] want to sound like that vicious cretin? Even the agonisingly English, middle-class ToryBoy guitarist in my band says this now, in his cultivated, cut-glass 1950s RP accent. Makes me want to kill him twice. And one more, this just keeps on going, and makes me more unreasonably borderline-psychotic every time I see it - which is every time I visit here, or any other place which discusses basses or guitars. OK - it's "Squier". "SQUIER". [size=5]IT'S SPELLED [b]"S - Q - U - I - E - R"[/b], OK? GOT THAT???[/size] What - are you labouring under the assumption that Fender have been spelling it wrong since 1982 and you are engaged upon a little personal crusade to point their mistake out to them, is that it? It's soddin' "Squier". [b]"Squier"[/b]. Right? Btw - , and , and hopefully . J.